Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/115

 GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF TRIPOLITANA. 98 u smull Tuareg village lying some 6 miles farther south. The ck-an and pleasant spot, better watered and more fertile than llbftt, presents an agreeable picture to the traveller, such as he will not again meet for hundreds of miles along his southern route. Yet the ruins occurring here and there in the surrounding districts show that these now arid and almost inaccessible uplands were also at one time inhabited. Even in the Jebel Akakus the natives point to the site of the ancient city of Tenderarf, where are seen the myrtle, necessarily introduced by a civilised people, and sculptures carved on the face of the rock. * A few domestic zebus in the Rh&t oasis are all that now survive of a species formerly abounding in the whole of Tripolitana, at a time when the rains were more abundant, and the now dried-up wadies veritable rivers. North of Rhat the isolated crescent-shaped Idenen range raises its jagged crest between the narrow Aghelad deHle and the valley skirting the western foot of the Akakus highlands. Idenen is known also as Kasr Jenun, or " Castle of the Jins," the evil spirits for thousands of miles round about being supposed to assemble here for the concoction of their maleficent spells. Richardson nearly lost his life when scaling these rugged heights, and.Rarth failed to reach the summit. Worn out by fatigue and devoured with fever, the daring explorer fell at the foot of a tree, where he remained sevcu-and-twenty hours before he was discovered by his attendants. His failure naturally confirmed the dread felt by the natives in approaching these dangerous mountains. Yet their mean altitude seems to be little over 2,'iOO feet, above which rise, 200 or 300 feet higher, sandstone towers isolated or grouped in frowning citadels. Government and Administration of Tripolitana. The portion of Tripolitana annexed to the Turkish empire constitutes a vilayet, like the other Ottoman provinces in Europe and Asia. The authority of the Sultan is, therefore, exercised directly, not through a vassal sovereign, as was till recently the case in Tunis, and is still in Egypt. The vali, or governor, is usually chosen among the superior officers of the army, generally ranking as a nnis/ih; or marshal, and commanding a body of troops which at times scarcely exceed five thousand, but which are at present estimated at about three times that number. Under this pasha, who disposes at once of the civil and military authority, are the mutaserifs and kaimakans, administrators of the secondary provinces, while the kazas or cantons are ruled by mudirs, who have replaced the former kaids. Hut each tribe and Arab commune still retains its own headman, who in towns and villages takes the title of sheikh-el-beled. Their functions, supposed to be exercised gratuitously, are. in reality the most burdensome to the unfortunate people, for justice is dispensed, for the most part venally, by the sheikhs. While the revenue of the vilayet is estimated by the Minister of Finance in Constantinople at from £120,000 to £160,000, probably ten times that amount is actually raised in the form of taxes and fines. In the Berber communities, where the democratic instinct is much more